"I'm in, but how do I find..."
As Bian was traversing the spaceship, he sensed a powerful shura of the third rank approaching him.
The shura leaped out of the vent above his head and brought down his black sword towards Bian's head with deadly precision.
Shuaa!
The blade cleaved through the metal floor of the ship like a hot knife through butter, but Bian was already ten steps ahead.
He spoke without looking back at the shura.
"So you're the strongest one here? Thanks for saving me the trouble of finding you."
The shura just scoffed.
"Words are unnecessary. Since I, Ral the Bloodthirsty, am on board, don't even think of getting out alive!"
He charged at Bian again, his figure disappeared into a blur.
'Among surpassers he's definitely at the pinnacle.'
Bian was very impressed with Ral's fitness, but that was it. Just because an ant was stronger than other ants didn't change the fact that it was still just an ant.
He summoned the Solum Mirror, which was only visible for a moment before it turned into a flash of light and appeared before the charging Ral.
"A geno core!"
Ral immediately realized he was in danger. He howled as his muscles swelled to double their size and used his most powerful swing to deflect the silver light.
Pang!
The black blade in his hand shattered and the silver light struck his chest, sending him hurling back with blood spilling out of his mouth.
Bian slowly approached the deflated Ral and stepped on his right arm.
Crunch!
The sounds of bones breaking rang out.
"Argh!!" Ral yelled out in anger, spitting out blood amidst his screams.
"Now listen here, Ral, I have some questions. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."
Bian said in the most menacing voice he could muster.
"Do your worst!" Ral spat out a mouthful of blood on his shoe.
With a scoff, Bian broke his other hand under his foot, but this time Ral didn't even let out a whimper.
'Hmm, I did not think this through. Shura are a warrior race; trying to torture one for information is a waste of time.'
Bian suddenly found himself in a dilemma.
'If I had a parasite beast soul, that would have been even better, but I don't.'
Now Bian was wondering how he could get information about the hostages or who knew about the hostages from Ral.
Then footsteps rang out as several other guards appeared, shooting laser guns.
The Solum Mirror moved by itself, deflecting these shots.
Then it turned into a silver light and with a blitz, all ten guards were dead.
"Ha..ha."
Ral laughed weakly.
"What's funny?"
"With just... a silver geno core... you dared to come on board this ship... backup is already on its way... there's no way for you to escape now."
Bian looked at Ral with an impassive gaze. He was right, in that a gold-horned or purple-horned shura of the fourth rank wasn't something he could deal with right now.
'Do I have anything that can make him speak? I doubt I can threaten the crew's lives since he just laughed at their deaths.'
This was the issue with brute-like species like shura. They couldn't be manipulated with emotions so easily.
Just as Bian was searching his soul sea for anything that could help, he spotted the Altering Brush.
Bian gasped and immediately summoned the geno core.
Ral could only see a stick appear in the hand of the black silhouette. Then the figure approached him and ripped off his armor.
"What are you... doing this time."
The first strike of the Solum Mirror had shattered his ribs and damaged his lungs, which stopped him from speaking properly.
Bian didn't answer him. He wrote the word "honest" on Ral and it worked. At the same time, the ink in the Altering Brush began draining at a rapid pace.
"Do you know about the hostages the shura captured?" Bian asked him.
'You think I'll tell you anything?' was what Ral was thinking, but what came out was:
"Of course I do, who do you think... I am!" Immediately he spoke, Ral shut his mouth and looked at Bian in shock.
Bian was also equally surprised.
"What do you know, tell me quickly!"
Bian urged him.
Ral just lay there on the ground, gritting his teeth in anger.
"Damnit, refusing to talk. Do you think I can't make you!"
Bian thought quickly and wrote another word, "blabbering," on Ral.
The ink was now draining like a leaking fountain. Bian estimated it would only last a little more than a minute at this rate.
'And this guy isn't even a demigod!'
The consumption of using the Altering Brush on a living creature was too high. The Solum Mirror had also absorbed the souls of the fallen shura, but the soul counter didn't even increase by one point.
Clearly, these wastrels couldn't even compare to an average creature from the fourth sanctuary.
"Now tell me what you know?" Bian asked forcefully.
"Bah, I'll never tell you about ships heading to sector XY with the hostages even if you tortured me to death."
Right after Ral said this, he seemed to realize something was wrong, but he couldn't keep his mouth shut.
Bian asked a few more questions and Ral not only answered, but said more than necessary.
'The Altering Brush is actually quite terrifying depending on how it's used.'
Weapons were good, but items which had miscellaneous uses like the Altering Brush, Solum Mirror, and Bronze Cauldron were simply indispensable.
Bian would choose them over any weapon any day and any time.
"Thanks for the info."
He gave a mocking smile to the bleeding shura who was still sprawled on the ground and ran through the spaceship.
Boom!
Ral "..."
The shura stood up weakly and brought up his communication gadget.
"I have to relay this back as soon as possible. There's actually such a terrifying human and I told him so much."
Ral's voice came out in a wheezing sound as he operated his gadget.
[Connecte-
BOOM!
The spaceship blew up into smithereens. Bian extended his senses from within the Black Cruiser and after making sure there was no life force, he turned around and went to the location specified by the honest, blabbering Ral.
On his way, Bian looked at his palm in wonder.
"Where's the thrill, where's the tension? Did I get too strong?"
He thought of the Executioners, those with geno armor, and the whole universe waiting outside.
Then he chuckled.
"I'm strong but not strong enough. These guys are just unbelievably weak."
The Black Cruiser zoomed through the sea of stars in a streak of light.